Emerald Biogas development underway

Installation of AD equipment at the first commercial food waste plant in the North East is starting at Emerald Biogas’ facility in Durham.

Construction of foundations and buildings has been completed at the £8m facility, and commissioning is due to start in March, with the plant scheduled to be using food waste and producing heat and power from May.

The AD plant at the Newton Aycliffe Industrial Estate will process waste from across the north east and generate renewable energy for the local area and plans to be fully operational by July.

At full capacity it will generate 1.56MW of electricity, and process 50,000 tonnes of food waste per year. The excess heat generated during the process will also be used across the industrial estate site of the plant. Digestate from the process will be supplied to local land owners.

Antony Warren, director, Emerald Biogas, said: “Once up and running, the facility will be the only one of its kind in the region and capable of not only providing renewable heat and electricity for neighbouring industrial companies, but also producing quality fertiliser from the digestate for use by the local agricultural community.”

A deal for funding for the project, provided by HSBC, WRAP and the Rural Development Programme for England, was sealed in August.

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) and the Resource Association have joined a coalition urging the Government to “fast-track” the roll-out of separate food waste collections in England.

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